Wireless

If you work in an office with lots of people or in a cubicle farm, odds are it does not always smell so good. It could be anything from the weird guy in the cubicle next door that doesn??™t bathe as often as the others in the office would like, or maybe it??™s the lady in the cubby next door that likes onions on everything. The Desktop USB Fragrance dispenser can mask the odor of your neighbors, but it can??™t hide your geekiness. This isn't the first fragrance dispenser we have seen, but at lea...

Wireless VGA? Been there, done that. Wireless USB to VGA? Hello, IOGEAR. Said outfit has just revealed the world's first Wireless USB to VGA kit that enables users to extend or clone their desktop to another monitor sans wires. Certified by the USB-IF, this unit enables any machine with a spare USB port to stream video to a TV or projector with resolutions as high as 720p. So long as your USB dongle is plugged into your machine and the VGA adapter is connected to a display, you'll be good to go...

Todays CIOs have the opportunity to be the enablers of innovative mobile computing. But, faced with the challenges of the diverse world of wireless mobile devices, CIOs are more commonly viewed as stifling innovation. In this article, Knowledge Center contributor David Goldschlag reviews their top mobility blunders and smart tips to avoid them, along with ways to roll out an effective enterprise mobility strategy. - Lets assume that todays CIOs, along with their IT staff, are not viewing smar...

At CTIA Wireless 2008, Knowledge Center analyst J. Gerry Purdy was asked by the CTIA to moderate a very interesting panel session on mobile marketing using Camera Phone 2D Bar Code Scanning. The use of 2D bar codes with camera phone scanning and ad fulfillment will soon be an exciting new mobile marketing option ?????? once 2D standards are agreed upon. Here, Purdy explains why. - The CTIA recently asked me to moderate a very interesting panel session on Camera Phone 2D (two-dimensional) Bar ...

The GSMA Mobile World Congress is a huge wireless and mobile trade show held in Barcelona each February. This year, Knowledge Center analyst J. Gerry Purdy moderated a panel session on the future of mobile Location-based Services, which has become a very hot mobile topic. Here, he shares the mobile Location-based Services trends discussed, and other mobile and wireless vendor news. - I am grateful to have been invited by the GSM Association to lead a session on the future of mobile LBS (Locat...

At about three times the U.S. retail price, and twice the monthly salary of white-collar middle managers, the iPhone may still find buyers among affluent young professionals who are snapping up iconic brands and luxury items and helping fuel the Asian giant's trillion dollar economy. - NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Apple's hugely popular 3G iPhone made its debut in India on Friday, but with a price tag of $700 there was none of the mass hysteria that marked its launch in the United States, Europe and...

Our avid readers (and peripheral manufacturers) should be delighted to see this headline: WUSB finally beginning to match USB 2.0 performance. NEC's the one to deliver the good news at Intel Developer Forum (IDF) Fall 2008. While the system is still a prototype, it did prove that with "native" host and firmware improvement effective speed can top 200Mbit/s or 25MByte/s, at which speed most would find acceptable for general use. Of course, you would need to have a "native" WUSB mass storage as...

There are a couple of things we all want from our computers - less wires and more speed. Our beloved USB connection can provide both of these thanks to wireless USB and the coming USB 3.0 specification. USB 3.0 promises data transfer speeds up to 4.8 Gbps. USB 3.0 was first announced at Intel's IDF 2007. At the time, it was first announced the specifications are expected to be finalized in the middle of 2008 and devices are expected to hit market 2009. A USB 3.0 data transfer demo at Intel's IDF...

There are a couple of things we all want from our computers - less wires and more speed. Our beloved USB connection can provide both of these thanks to wireless USB and the coming USB 3.0 specification. USB 3.0 promises data transfer speeds up to 4.8 Gbps. USB 3.0 was first announced at Intel's IDF 2007. At the time, it was first announced the specifications are expected to be finalized in the middle of 2008 and devices are expected to hit market 2009. A USB 3.0 data transfer demo at Intel's IDF...

Archos is trying to lure iPod touch users with its new line of what the French company touts as the Internet media tablets. All three hard drive-based tablets - Archos 5, 5G and 7 - share an Cortext-powered superscaler ARM processor; a touchscreen GUI; an uncompromised Opera web browser with Adobe Flash 9 support; 800-by-480 native resolution; and WiFi. The regular Archos 5 has a 4.8" screen, and capacity starts at 60GB and goes up to 250GB. The high-end Archos 7 gets a 7" screen, and comes in...

Surround sound headsets for gaming seem like a hot topic these days: after Razer's announcement yesterday about the upcoming Megalodon, we now came across this Plantronic's new surround in a pair of cans, the Gamecom 777. Much like the ASUS Xonar U1 USB sound pod that we reviewed here a few months ago (and unlike the competing solutions from Creative, including the HS-1200 X-Fi headset), the Gamecom 777 uses a combination of Dolby's Pro Logic II surround decoding and Dolby Headphone technologie...

In 2007, Microsoft got back into the gaming peripheral business and pulled its SideWinder brand out of mothballs. The first SideWinder product was a gaming mouse, simply called the SideWinder gaming mouse. A few months before it unveiled the SideWinder gaming mouse, Microsoft unveiled its Reclusa gaming keyboard built in conjunction with Razer. This week Microsoft has announced two new products that will carry the SideWinder moniker. The two products will include the SideWinder X6 gaming keyboar...

Some people like to be in touch with their feelings and all that garbage. This type of person blogs about the mundane aspects of their personal lives and keeps a diary. I've never really understood the need for a diary myself, but many people keep them. If you like the idea of a diary, but don't like the thought of actually having to write by hand on paper the Secret Diary may be just what you need. The Secret Diary looks very similar to the Corsair Flash Padlock flash drive in that both have a ...

The first Treo device with built-in Wi-Fi connectivity is worth a look for companies running a Microsoft back-end infrastructure. - Although the Treo 800w is likely the best Treo smart phone Palm has delivered to date, Palm's late adoption of technology now standard on many competing mobile devices leaves the Treo 800w as a middle-of-the-road option for many casual buyers. But for corporations looking to standardize on a Win... ...

When Apple rolled out its iPhone in the United States, some fans paid big money to be among the first to get their hands on the device. In Poland, people are getting paid to line up. As part of a marketing campaign ahead of the iPhone's Friday launch in Poland, the country's largest mobile operator Orange is paying dozens of actors to stand in queues. - WARSAW (Reuters) - When Apple Inc rolled out its iPhone in the United States, some fans paid big money to be among the first to get their ha...

Mexican security company Xega injects clients with chips containing transmitters that can be tracked by satellite. Fears of kidnapping are increasing, and even middle-class clients are interested in Xega's transmitters. - QUERETARO, Mexico (Reuters) Wealthy Mexicans, terrified of soaring kidnapping rates, are spending thousands of dollars to implant tiny transmitters under their skin so satellites can help find them tied up in a safe house or stuffed in the trunk of a car. Kidnapping jumped a...

Mobile TeleSystems will carry Apple iPhones in Russia, with sales expected to begin in October, Apple says. Mobile TeleSystems is Russia's largest mobile phone operator. Russian companies have been vying to sell iPhones, which are a status symbol in Moscow. - MOSCOW (Reuters) Apple Inc has agreed a distribution deal with carrier Mobile TeleSystems on the sale of iPhones in Russia, one of the world's fastest growing markets for mobile telephone handsets, a market source said. quot;MTS has mad...

iPod music downloads hit mysterious glitch in China, stumping scores of users and raising fears the government has blocked Apple's iTunes site over pro-Tibet lyrics. Since Aug. 18 more than 60 people have posted messages in an Apple discussion forum complaining that they could not download songs for use on Apple's iPods. User complaints follow the release of The Art of Peace Foundation's new album Songs for Tibet , a compilation of tunes about the rights of ethnic Tibetans in China's mountainou...

Palm unveiled a new Palm Treo smart phone Aug. 20 based on Microsoft software to compete for business mobile users against rivals such as RIM's BlackBerry and the Apple iPhone. The Palm Treo Pro will be sold by Vodafone Group and 02 in Europe in September, and by Telstra in Australia. Palm does not have an agreement with a U.S. carrier to sell the phone, but it says enterprise demand is growing for unlocked smart phones that can work on any mobile network. - NEW YORK (Reuters) Palm Inc unveil...

While the first part of the 2008 Intel Developer Forum focused on Intel processors for desktops, notebooks and server systems, the second day shifted focus to the Intel Atom processor and a new generation of mobile Internet devices or MIDs that Intel hopes vendors will develop using the Atom chip. The second phase of the Atom processor roll out is scheduled for 2009 with the debut of the ??????Moorestown?????? platform that will use a new processor called Lincroft. - SAN FRANCISCO ?????? Afte...

Kensington has announced the world's first Certified Wireless USB docking station. It is the first real test for ultrawideband and WUSB as the dock combines USB display, audio and a 5-port USB hub. The USB display is handled by DisplayLink which enables the dock to output a max res of 1600 x 1200 or 1680 x 1050 widescreen. The WUSB is powered by WiQuest's Mini Card reference design that enables wireless USB audio as well. It's a million dollar question how WUSB manages the bandwidth so all t...

Filed under: Transportation, WirelessNo surprise here, but the kids from MIT were (presumably) right all along. The three students who were muffled just before presenting their case at Defcon have finally been freed; the now-revoked gag order had prevented them from exposing insecurities in the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority ticket system, but during the same court setting, the MBTA fessed up and admitted that its current system was indeed vulnerable. Of note, it only confessed that ...

Passengers can pay $12.95 for Internet access on nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami. - CHICAGO (Reuters) - AMR Corp's American Airlines began offering Internet access on long-haul domestic flights on Wednesday, making American the first U.S. airline to offer full in-flight broadband. The world's largest airline said its passengers on Boeing 767-200 aircraft can pay $12.95 for Interne... ...

Why have 5.1 surround strapped to your ears (like the Creative HS-1200 or Tritton Audio Xtreme we've tested here) when you can have 7.1 instead? Razer would certainly prefer you to think that way: they've just announced the Megalodon, a 7.1 surround USB headset with microphone that the company plans to release in Q4 of this year for $149.99 (ouch!). There area few things about the Megalodon (named, if you're curious, after a giant prehistoric shark) that have our juices going. First, there's t...

Another week, another eco-friendly flash drive this time the drive is called, the Woody Bamboo. As you might guess from the name, its case is made of carved bamboo wood. Bamboo is a popular material for eco-friendly computer gear because the wood grows quickly and is easy to replace. The drive the talked about before uses bamboo wood on its case. The Woody Bamboo flash drive is available in capacities starting at 128MB and going up to 8 GB. The color the drive will depend on the bamboo wood it w...